Log in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Lost Password Recovery Form

If you have forgotten your username or password, you can request to have your username emailed to you and to reset your password. When you fill in your registered email address, you will be sent instructions on how to reset your password.

Lege1: Agreed with IntoTheVoid in that the second head doesn't feel cohesive yet, somehow having it off to one side makes it feel sorta 'tacked on'. Maybe the head is jutting out of the chest or stomach, or somewhere in the center? Not that a symmetrical design is automatically better, I just think it might be one way to help it feel more like one being.

IntoTheVoid: Like the fluffy hide obscuring the head from behind (maybe do a back view to help sell it even more). The devil tail is a nice touch

Mythmaker: Not yet seeing what makes the underside unpleasant, needs more than just being black. Those eyes are so sad lol, so full of personality already.

Thought about a reptilian being that eats colors off of objects, then camouflages itself in that color, altering its persona/physical characteristics.

Attached Images

Originally Posted by Andrew Loomis

You may question why we do not at once proceed to the finished, smooth, round form. The answer is that in a drawing or painting, something of the individual procedure and structural quality should remain... It is the big form that does the job--not the little and exact.

Love the theme - thank you so much, Dave, for keeping COW up and running! Also thanks Rob for so many fantastic rounds, wish I participated in more!
Maybe you guys can work together for future COWs, seems to work well for the CHOW guys so far.

@Noun: Quite love your unique style, they all look like some boss you could encounter in a game! Really love both creatures so far.
For the second creature: I think the sleeping one (purple) probably should have a more round head to underline its harmlessness even more.

@Lege1: Ha, love the expression of the crazy creature. I agree with the others here with the alignment of the heads.
Also I think right now the head of the "normal" one is too twisted, it would be probably need a longer neck to look down like this or have the head at another position. Love the simple, yet striking background!

@Mythmaker: I agree with Noun here, you probably need to add a bit more to the danger of that "unpleasant" side. Spontaneously I thought about adding a really wide, dangerous mouth there... A bit like the "Gaping Dragon" of the Dark Souls series.

@IntoTheVoid: Haha, love that concept! Maybe you can hint its dangerousness a bit with showing some claws / other dangerous things accidentely poking out of the fur at some places... Not sure if this would destroy the concept though... (maybe adding a second picture, showing its powers would add to the concept)

@scorge: Woah, once again, this was what really motivated my to draw something as well. Really love the white guy, he looks so tall and majestic.

As for my creature: I might change the rhino creature still - especially the head (since I'm not entirely happy with it).
The idea is that the top creature hunts at night, taking over the control of the body (using the horns as attacking / defending mechanism) and at the day, the rhino is in control.
Top creature uses the light to attract (smaller) preys and eat them... a bit like a chameleon, with a sticky tongue.

The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Orm Irian For This Useful Post:

Hey! How is everyone getting on? Thanks for the feedback - I did some work on it last night and started to work out more of the anatomy. I've yet to put in how the butterfly is caught - I'm thinking either pincers, or some kind of tongue. I might enlarge the maw a bit to make it look more intimidating.

Orm: I had the same thought re: gaping dragon, and actually did a rough sketch like that before I started this, I might still go that way, but so far I think the beak fits the design well enough.

Noun: I like both your ideas. Nice distinctive style too! Maybe the chromeleon is the most original?

Lege1: An interesting looking creature! It's not entirely clear what the intent is though with the personalities. Is it meant to be a carnivore and herbivore? If so, maybe add a meaty prop to help sell the idea. You've got some good form in your render, but the lighting seems a bit confused - kind of like it's lit directly from both sides. It makes me wonder if you've been regularly flipping your canvas, but losing track of your light source when doing so (I've often fallen foul of that problem!).

Orm Irian: I quite like the design, and the idea in the text. I'm wondering if there's some way to communicate the idea more clearly in the actual image. It's a tricky one - maybe even needing two images to illustrate. I'm a bit distracted by the resemblance to a Giger alien - it's not a copy, but there are certain cues such as the elongated head, the maw with proboscis and the colour that immediately made me think of Alien.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Mythmaker For This Useful Post:

Noun: that's a fun idea, but sounds hard to depict in a straightforward way. The minimalistic face makes it less expressive in general, so it's even harder. I think more facial features that can be exaggerated more would be useful here.

Lege1: that Quato is looking real smug, while the other guy's all "how long did I have this giant head growing on me?"
Not sold on that asymmetry here. Left arm in particular (our right), I'm having some trouble reading. Is it attaching to a separate shoulder socket for the big head? And which way is it facing?

Orm Irian: eating throughout the day and the night, with only one single digestive tract! This creature's life must be interesting. Upper creature's design is lacking some definition, I think. Is it insectile? Is it spider-like? You'll want to figure it out to know which reference to use. Definitely a neat concept though, so I look forward to where you take it from here.

Mythmaker: lovely composition. Caterpillars are known to spin silk, so perhaps you could use that to trap the butterfly in?
Kinda wish its eyes were looking somewhere specific - the dead stare into empty space is leading our eyes out of the frame.

----------

Thanks a bunch for all the feedback, everyone!
Thought about sticking a second head in there, cause hey, everybody's doing it :p
Dunno. I don't hate it.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to IntoTheVoid For This Useful Post:

Here's another update. It's not much fun anymore as I'm desperately trying to fix the anatomy. I should have done that before painting, but I have a habit of doing things backwards.

I've obliterated a lot of detail on the tail to try and get the flow right, so I'll be adding back into it. I kind of wish it had pincers - as I thought pulling the wings off a butterfly was a good way to sell the darker side of it's personality. I think that might be too much detail though as it's very busy already.

IntoTheVoid: Thanks for the feedback - I've changed the eyes so they're looking more towards the viewer. Is that better? (I think it is!)

I was trying to think of some constructive feedback to give you last night. I think perhaps it could do with more to help sell the concept - the additions you're already suggesting could help. I think the presentation could do with a lift - I mean it lacks the expressiveness of your more dynamic initial sketches (which are really nice by the way).

I tried doing a quick thumbnail just to help explain my thinking. I'm reluctant to post it because I added a design element, and don't want to interfere, but I'll go ahead in case it helps...

Oh noes, I actually thought for some weird reason that the deadline was the 30th March - this putting me under quite some pressure, since I'm now quite behind the time plan I usually have for creature concepts. Well, I will try my best to finish it anyway!

@Mythmaker: Woah, such a beautiful, creepy creature - I really like it! Only thing which looks a bit weird right now is the whole butterfly catch process - I doubt that the butterfly would stay around if a tongue slowly entangles around it. Maybe the tongue is not really slow, but the way you have draw it, it feels like a slow process... Maybe there is a way to improve that? Also right now the butterfly looks a bit like a part of the creature - maybe if you move the it more to the bottom or to the left side and make the tongue a bit longer, you can break this impression.

@IntoTheVoid: Nothing much to add, but I think it might look better without the second head - or maybe you can leave it there and make it look a bit more dangerous.. Dunno maybe a bit like a whip spider, with huge claws and stuff.^^

As for my part - I worked mostly on the presentation of the creature and tried to make it look less like a H.R. Giger Alien, might make some further changes, but probably not. The rhino got a completely new, less generic head.
I will work now mostly on the lighting (which I think I'm failing horrible, but I try to fix it) and the details... The night version will get a rim light (from the stars, potentially also moonlight) and the day version will get a stronger second light source in front of it - since otherwise no one will really focus on the head. But I cannot move the sun on the other side or turn the creature around, out of composition reason.

@Mythmaker: Such an awesome concept! Perfect amount of cute and creepy. It is borderline too busy, but what you have to this point more than sells the idea. As Orm Irian mentioned, there should be a little more interaction with the demise of the butterfly. You can pop off a wing, wrap some of the legs around it, or get that tongue more involved. As far as the overall silhouette is concerned, seems like there should be more fluff in the head, the body and the head are pretty much the same size all the way through. For the environment, try to get some more foliage going on.

I've addressed all of these things with this paintover. Also used a Gradient Map to get the color going to show some more immersion into the environment. Another trick, when you're doing fur, use a small hard smudge at about 90% to pull hairs out to break up the uniform look of the furs's edge. Last thing is the eyes, really wanted to give them that puppy dog look, Bigger pupils, and tucked them under the brows more. Hope this helps!

Thanks for all the feedback - I did check the thread quickly yesterday but wasn't logged in as I was busy painting

Well - now that I've had the full scorge treatment I feel like I've been truly accepted into the tribe!

Thanks for taking the time to do that. I'm keeping these things in mind as I'm working - particularly trying to address the butterfly issue and going the extra mile with the fur. I'm not too keen on changing the palette, but I am trying to work in a bit more contrast (I do tend to work gradually out from mid tones). If I have time after finishing the creature I'll try to work in more foliage.

Orm: Nice work on the update - it definitely puts the point across more clearly!

I'm not too sure what the cutoff time is for posting the final. Is it safe to assume as long as it's still Monday I'm safe?

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Mythmaker For This Useful Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to scorge For This Useful Post:

Mythmaker: the change to the eyes makes a huge difference, in my view. Really nice! Thanks a ton for the feedback as well. I'm not quite sure if I understood you correctly, but I do agree my piece is a bit static. I tried to change the angle of its pose to make it more interesting. It's a pretty subtle change, but hopefully effective.

scorge: whoa, way to take things up a notch! Have to say, it's much appreciated.

---------------
Last WIP
Pardon the messy background. I might just omit it completely from the final.